Great news for LowLine fans – this week, The Delancey Underground won the support of Manhattan’s Community Board 3, bringing the underground park even closer to coming to fruition. The plan to transform an abandoned underground trolley terminal under Delancey and Essex streets into vibrant public space seemed like a pipe dream when it first started but with the backing of community groups and now CB3, the project is pushing forward full steam ahead.
Daniel Barasch, one of the LowLine project’s co-founders, presented the group with an overview on the project’s progress including community outreach efforts. Barasch and his team also pitched their ideas to local political leaders in order to win buy-in with City Hall and the Department of Transportation. Meanwhile Delancey Underground supporters are in the midst of a fundraising drive: an anonymous donor has pledged to contribute $75,000 if the same amount can be raised by August 15. The money would go towards additional research and feasibility studies.
Some committee members expressed their worries that the LowLine could gentrify the neighborhood even more, and would compete for funds with other parks during a time when the city is cutting its parks’ budget. But as the LowLine’s aerial twin, the High Line, has proven, New Yorkers’ thirst for open space is hardly quenched. Meanwhile the Delancey Underground has plans for a September exhibit that will explain the plan in more detail, including a bevy of technologies that will turn this unused space into a vivid subterranean park.
Via Curbed NY
Photos courtesy Raad Studio
